Chapter 8 · Beneath the Academy

"Don't touch that door."

Cade caught Ivy by the back of her coat and yanked her away just as a black line split the stone.

The crack snapped shut where her fingers had been.

Ivy twisted and drove her elbow toward his ribs. Cade blocked it, caught her wrist, and pinned it against the wall. His other hand locked around the chain between their cuffs.

"Let go."

"You almost opened a death seal."

"I almost opened a door."

"Under the academy? After the fourth bell erased half the undercity?" His grip tightened. "Try again."

The bell's last vibration still crawled through the floor. Dust shook from the ceiling and landed in Ivy's hair. Somewhere above them, boots pounded across the academy halls.

The council had found the breach.

Or Cade had led them straight to it.

Ivy glanced at the chain. A thin red glow pulsed through the links, matching the mark burned into her wrist.

"You said this passage was empty," she said.

"I said no one would follow us."

"That's not the same thing."

"It is when I'm the one doing the lying."

Her stomach dropped. "You admit it?"

Cade leaned closer.